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The Sky Is Falling
A small, crab-like robot arrives on the Robinson's planet and frightens Dr. Smith. The small robot eventually ends up at the Jupiter II, where John Robinson studies it. He discovers that it's a robot probe searching for habitable planets for an alien race.. Will goes rock hunting and spies a ray of light that is actually a transporter beam. A man, along with a machine is transported to the planet. Will attempts to communicate with the man, however they cannot communicate because the man doesn't speak. Will leaves and returns with John, Don, and Dr. Smith. The alien man has disappeared, but John thinks the machine is a matter transporter device. John assumes (rightly) that it is a transporter device for the alien race (which are called Taurons), and that they most likely are peaceful. John believes the Taurons are doing the same thing that the Robinson's had planned to do...which is colonize planets. However upon hearing this, Dr. Smith fears that the Taurons are dangerous and plan to take over the entire planet. In the galley of the Jupiter II, Maureen has prepared a chocolate cake. Maureen, John, Don, Will, and Dr. Smith are in attendance. Maureen begins to slice the cake, but the entire cake disappears. Dr. Smith fears it's the Taurons and that they're up to evil and dastardly deeds. Later, at the Jupiter II, the Robot informs the Robinson's that a single Tauron has arrived. The Robot informs the family that from his scans, that the Tauron is basically humanoid. Later, the Robinson's, Don, and Dr. Smith see two light beams shine down aproximately where the alien transport devise is. The Robinson's believe that more Taurons have arrived. Smith is still sure that the Taurons are dangerous and are a threat to the Robinsons. However, Dr. Smith is incorrect. The Taurons are a peaceful people. The male Tauron, Rethso (Don Matheson) is only a family man, with a wife, Moela (Françoise Ruggieri), and a young son, Lunon (Eddie Rosson). NOTE: It is important to know that NONE of these names are spoken in the episode since the alien Taurons do NOT speak. It is hinted that they use a strange "electronic" language. However, the ONLY time this is seen is when the boy alien (Lunon) hears a sound and then leaves at once. Smith, worried about the Tauron aliens...he decides to take a laser gun and visit the Tauron camp himself. Despite the fact that the Taurons are peaceful, Dr. Smith becomes paranoid and draws his laser upon the Tauron family. This leads to distrust between the Robinsons and the Taurons. Later, Will is rock hunting and comes across the Tauron boy (Lunon). Will tries to make friends...but a strange sound suddenly appears and Lunon runs away. That same night, Will tells about his encounter with Lunon...and that he seemed like an average human child. The only strange thing about Lunon was that he dressed differently and couldn’t speak. Dr. Smith warns the Robinsons that the Taurons are unsafe...and had pointed a laser pistol at him (however he doesn't tell them that he did this first.) Dr. Smith's speech causes the Robinson's to be wary of the Tauron aliens. The next day, Will is rock hunting again in the same area that he was in the day before. Lunon appears again, but this time the boy Tauron has a toy ball. Lunon gives the ball to Will, and motions for Will to throw it away from them. Will throws the ball away...but it turns and comes back to him. The ball is like a round boomerang. Will tries to return the ball, however Lunon acts as if he wants Will to keep it. Suddenly Will lets out a huge sneeze. In seconds Lunon collapses upon the ground. Will manages to drag Tory to a nearby cave to stay the night or until Tory gets well. Will does not return home that night and the Robinsons become agitated thanks to Dr. Smith. The Tauron parents, Rethso and Moela are also anxious. Since Dr. Smith had acted so violent and dangerous...the Taurons come to believe that possibly the Robinsons kidnapped their son. The next morning, John, Don, and Dr. Smith go to the Tauron camp. Both sides are armed. John approaches Rethso and openly removes his weapons and throws them to the ground. Rethso aims his laser away from John. John tries to communicate with Rethso. John makes motion signs towards himself...then places his hand in the air to show the height of Will. John is trying to ask Rethso if he has seen Will. A confused Rethso shakes his head not comprehending, then Rethso motions with his hand at the height of Lunon (who is quite a bit shorter than Will). Rethso is trying to ask John if he had seen Tory...however John now doesn't understand. It becomes obvious that the two men are unable to communicate properly. Dr. Smith sees Rethso's wife, Moela, behind a grouping of rocks holding a laser gun. Dr. Smith fires his laser gun at Moela and narrowly misses her. This causes Moela to fire back. John races away from Rethso and returns to Don and Dr. Smith. John scolds Smith for firing first...but Smith claims that he saved John's life. However, both Will and Lunon are not far away. Lunon had woken up feeling better that morning...and Will is taking him back to the Tauron camp. Lunon is still weak and leans heavily upon Will. As they near the Tauron camp, both boys hear the exchange of laser guns firing. Will sits a weakened Lunon on the ground and leaves to investigate. Will comes upon John, Don, and Dr. Smith. Will explains that Lunon had gotten sick and that he had to stay with him until he was able to travel. John rushed to where Lunon lies on the ground. John gently talks to the boy, then he gently takes the boy into his arms. John carries Lunon to the Tauron camp, and lays him gently on the ground in front of his mother and father and takes a few steps back. Moela rushes to her son and embraces him. Once Moela sees that Lunon is safe...she motions to Rethso (who is aiming a laser at John) to shoot John. Seeing this, Will runs and stand in front of his father like a human shield. John quickly grabs Will and throws Will behind him. Rethso hesitates. Then Lunon feebly stands and walks to Will and smiles and shakes hands with Will. Then both Rethso and Moela seem to know what has actually taken place. The small Tauron family of three stand together...and smile....and then a transporter beam hits them and takes them away. However, Lunon left the toy ball for Will. Dr. Smith takes the ball and throws it away...he turns away, and then the ball hits Smith on the back of the head. Will says that he still thinks there could have been a way for the Taurons to stay. John tells Will that it would be impossible...and that it was Will's sneeze that made the young Tauron, Lunon, ill anyway. John says that the Taurons do not possess the immunity to fight human diseases and germs...therefore it was unsafe for the Taurons to stay anywhere near the planet...or the Robinsons for that matter. Will agrees but says that at least the antibiotics they gave Lunon made him well again. Don then says that the antibiotics did help make Lunon well....however nothing was stopping Lunon from catching a common cold and becoming dangerously sick again. (Note: We never see the Robinson's administering any antibiotics to Lunon. Lunon plays with Will. Will sneezes. Lunon becomes ill. Will takes him to a cave to spend the night. Will and Lunon go back to the Tauron camp to witness the conflict between the Taurons and Robinsons. Lunon makes peace. The Taurons group together and then are beamed away.) Background Information *Eddie Rothson, who plays Lunon, also had parts in 'Cool Hand Luke' (1968) and 'The Fugitive (1963). He was born on June 15, 1956 in California, USA. He died young, on September 19, 1994 (age 38) in Los Angeles, California, USA. Rothson was uncredited for his part as Lunon it this episode.> *Francoise Ruggieri, a former Miss Golden Globe 1969, for which she would not receive until after this episode. She also had parts in "Funny Girl" (1968), and other tv show popular during that era such as "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", and "Nightgallary." *Don Matheson starred in Irwin Allen's 'Land Of The Giants,' 'Days of our Lives,' and 'General Hospital.' He also starred in many other tv shows. He was a Korean war veteran, and was rewarded both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his exceptional heroism during his tour of duty. Don was born on August 5, 1929 in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. *The black rifles from "Noplace to Hide" are used by the Robinsons for the last time in this episode. *The Tauron residence seems to have no sleeping quarters, bathroom, or significant amount of storage and offers no apparent protection from the elements or from the numerous strange creatures that populate Priplanus. Strange that a colonizing party would be sent to a planet without such items, especially given this planet's eccentric orbit and climate. *The maser transportation device is used by Will in "Return From Outer Space". *The Taurons are mute, at least with the Robinson party, and don't appear to have a written language so how they communicate that they are called "Taurons" is not clear. *Masers are not a bad choice if one wants to send a signal over long distances as they are extremely stable with respect to frequency and phase. They operate in the microwave region of the spectrum so a visible beam such as the one shown as a special effect here is not possible from the maser effect itself. The beam might be interacting with some compounds in the planet's atmosphere causing them to fluoresce. This would mean that the beam is transfering energy to these compounds and thus being attenuated. *Herman Groves (1927 - 2010) was a prolific television writer who worked on series as varied as "Vega$" and "Battlestar Galactica." He also wrote for the Gene Roddenberry series "The Lieutenant." Barney Slater wrote numerous episodes of LIS and the way his credit is assigned on this episode indicates his work here was a rewrite of Groves' original script. *Yet again the Robinsons have given Doctor Smith a gun, and he causes trouble with it. Why do they keep letting him have weapons? *Why did John and Don take Smith with them to the camp for negotiations? Certainly they should have known he would only make things worse. Which he did. *John tells Will that when he sneezed, his germs made the alien boy sick. How did John know Will had sneezed when Will had not told him so yet? *The Taurons are mute and supposed to use an electronic language. This can ony be heard when Will meets Lunon, then Lunon runs away after hearing a strange sound. *Will mentions that the Robinsons gave Lunon some antibiotics. We never see this. Gallery: Sky19.jpg Sky18.jpg Sky17.jpg Sky16.jpg Sky15.jpg Sky14.jpg Sky13.jpg Sky12.jpg Sky11.jpg Sky10.jpg Sky09.jpg Sky08.jpg Sky07.jpg Sky06.jpg Sky05.jpg Sky04.jpg Sky03.jpg Sky02.jpg Sky01.jpg